NORTH TONAWANDA, N.Y. — North Tonawanda Police said the vandals targeted several Halloween displays between late Sunday night and early Monday morning.
Some of the crimes were caught on camera.
Several neighbors reported damage on the Public NT Facebook Page in the areas of 14th and 17th streets, Walck Road and Pioneer Street. Some victims posted video of the vandalism and shared videos of vandals in the act.
Frank Genovese said that the suspects caused more than $1,000 of damage to his display. He said that he had been looking forward to putting up a Halloween display since he bought his home.
"You put in quite a bit of time, quite a bit of money to take part in what I consider to be community culture," Genovese said. "And then just a few bad actors just come in and tear it all up because, 'Oh, hey, wouldn't this be funny?' I'll tell you, I never did anything like that as a kid."
Luckily for Genovese, his security camera was able to catch the vandals in the act and even see their faces for a brief moment. He shared the security camera footage with 2 On Your Side seen below.
"Genuinely people work hard to have these nice things and celebrate, and it's really dashing when your house gets hit like this," Genovese said. "I was really proud to show my family and friends all of this, and you know, you took that away. I don't think you realize how that feels and exactly what goes into that. So I just wish that more people had a little empathy, and I hope there's a path to get there."
North Tonawanda Mayor Austin Tylec responded to the crimes in a Facebook post.
"As our Police Department continues to investigate possible leads, we ask all of those who may have information to contact the non-emergency police line at 716-692-4111 ext. 0," he wrote.
2 On Your Side asked North Tonawanda Police Chief Keith Glass what his advice is to homeowners to prevent or deter vandalism.
He said that surveillance cameras can either discourage vandals or help police identify them.
If you see vandalism, Glass said that you should call police, and not confront the suspect or suspects. He said that action will give police a better chance to respond and catch vandals in the act.
Genovese, meantime, shared his thoughts about the vandalism.
"The first thing is to the people that did this. I genuinely, I know you're young. You don't know exactly how much work goes into these kinds of things. You haven't started working full time yet. But I mean, if we do catch you, my preferred punishment would be community service, to the tune of how much you just destroyed." he said.